Cliff Riches; Broadchurch Is over for Now but There Are More Craggy Landscapes to Love in Poldark and Far from the Madding Crowd, Says Susannah Butter Television

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SO, WITH one last fix of intense staring, tears and yet another dinner of chips from a bag for a grumpy DS Miller (Olivia Colman), the second series of Broadchurch has drawn to a close.

Don't feel too bereft, though, for this is not the last we will see of the show's main attraction. Sure, Colman and David Tennant are returning for a third series, and James D'Arcy's sinister cheekbones might make it too, but what really matters is that those cliffs will be back even sooner.

Whenever important action went down in Broadchurch from lesbian kisses to mid-court case debriefs it was on the stretch of coastline at West Bay in Dorset. The resolve of the characters may have faltered but the cliffs proved hardier than Tennant's Detective Inspector Hardy. However grim, murky or downright tenuous the plot became, the sky was pristine blue and the cliffs stood tall and golden.

Little wonder that the same location has been chosen for the BBC film of Far from the Madding Crowd, out in May and starring Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene. Meanwhile, the southwest coast has become competitive. West Bay has a rival. Next month, a remake of the 1975 series Poldark will fill BBC1's Sunday-night slot. Filmed on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula, it stars Aidan Turner, fresh from his role in The Hobbit, as Ross Poldark.

If the supremacy of the West Bay cliffs is at risk, no one is letting on. The Broadchurch effect has been powerful there has been a 200 per cent increase in holiday-home searches and property prices have soared. Bradley, supervisor at The Watch House cafe on the beach there, says: "We've had coaches of tourists from as far away as Denmark come to see the cliffs. There is an air of excitement around the place. The Jurassic coast is fantastic on a good sunny day you can see right around the coastline and the imposing cliffs are fantastic for a murder mystery."

He became used to seeing the cast of Broadchurch. "They're a nice bunch." Colman ate frequently at his cafe seafood chowder was her favourite dish. Now Bradley is gearing up for Far from the Madding Crowd madness. His friend was an extra in the show - which sees Mulligan joined by Juno Temple as Fanny Robin, Michael Sheen as William Boldwood and Tom Sturridge as Sergeant Troy.

The adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel is written by David "One Day" Nicholls and directed by Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg. He is undaunted by the reputation of the 1967 film, which cemented Julie Christie's star position as she courted three strikingly different suitors. Vinterberg wants to make a piece of work that is "raw and revolutionary", not just another British period movie with "lovely clothes and nice fireplaces".

Anita Overland, the co-producer, speaks highly of filming in the southwest: "It was a great experience, getting involved with thatchers, farmers and sheep-owners. …